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East bests West in Sertoma Classic All-Star Volleyball Match
Dundy County's
Alison Glidden,
NP-SP's Jacque
Thomas named as contest MVPs
The 13th Annual Sertoma All-Star Volleyball Classic showcased 24 of Southwest Nebraska's top players.
In an evenly matched and well played game, the East prevailed in the fifth set to win 14-16, 16-14, 2-15, 15-5, 15-4 at the McCook High School gymnasium on Saturday.
The MVP for the East was Jacque Thomas of North Platte St. Pat's. On top of being the honor, Thomas the setting assist record with 39. Stephanie Wilson of Culbertson set the previous mark in 1994 with 38.
Dundy County's Alison Glidden was named the West's MVP.
Each team was allotted four practices to hone their skills and familiarize with their teammates.
"I think the most important thing to work on is team chemistry. We had to really work on the chemistry between them and the transitioning off the net," said East coach Stacie Petsch, who has departed from Medicine Valley to take the helm at Silver Lake.
Coaching alongside Petsch was new Maywood head coach Staci Vaughn. Vaughn and Petsch tried to keep the practices to what their players would recognize.
"We worked on all aspects of the game," Vaughn said. "We tried to bring in a little of what the girls were used to from their high practices also."
Vaughn found out throughout the preparation that her players mixed together well and gave some of that credit to many of them playing together in the Cambridge CSO All-Star basketball game the week before.
"I thought they meshed pretty well together. They kind of knew each other and meshed very well," Vaughn said of the team's practices at Medicine Valley gymnasium.
"Their personalities were pretty extreme in some and some of them were pretty quiet, too. We had a mixture of both, so they kept us on our toes.
"It's always fun to work with kids that are very talented and you can just sit back and let them play their game. It was an awesome experience. I'm glad I got to do this."
Vaughn certainly didn't have to do much coaching with the record-breaking setter Thomas on her team.
Thomas cherished the opportunity of getting to be teammates with some of her heated opponents from the fall.
"They were big rival games for us," Thomas said, pointing out Arapahoe and Southern Valley. "So it was kind of stepping out of the box to become friends with our rivals. You're rivals across the court, but you become friends when you're on the same side."
The same was experienced by the West team.
"I've known these girls from playing against each other, so to be able to play with them is a lot of fun," West MVP Glidden said. "You don't really know them, so you think of them as rivals, but they're all a lot of fun to be around and are great volleyball players. You have to step up your playing ability because everyone else is really good too."
Glidden said that the West had a blast during practices at Hayes Center.
"Our team was so good about having tons of fun. We were all just so loud and really meshed well from the start," Glidden said. "Everyone was so friendly and just wanted to play volleyball."
RanDee Littrel of Wauneta-Palisade and Marian Richards of Hayes Center were the coaches for the West.
"Our coaches were awesome," said Glidden of Littrel and Richards. "The biggest thing is that we communicated so we could understand how to make it go a lot smoother. They were really good about communicating, answering our questions and having a lot of fun."
The Sertoma Classic is an end to the majority of the participants, including Thomas who will attend Kansas State in the fall and major in nutrition and exercise science for preparation to become a physical therapist.
The reasons for choosing her path are not surprising from Thomas, who was the only player to play in every set in the Classic.
"I want to go into physical therapy just because I love helping people, and it's an active job and hands on. It's like teaching, but in a different way."
But 10 players in the Classic will be playing collegiate sports. Counted in that total is Glidden, who is headed to the University of Nebraska-Kearney to major in health science and play volleyball.
Glidden will get the chance to play volleyball with her older sister, Sara, when they meet up on the UNK volleyball team this fall.
Sara is joining the UNK team after graduating from Northeastern Junior College this spring.
"Having an older sister to play with and having someone to look up to and help you along during the tough spots really made me a better player in high school," Glidden said. "I'm really looking to playing with her again."
While Glidden is anticipating her future at UNK, she said she'll walk away from the Sertoma Classic with "friendships and memories."
"All these girls are so nice and a lot of them are going on to play volleyball next year, so I'll be able to play against them again," Glidden said. "It's great to have a network of friends that you can keep for the rest of your life."
Future Plans
Name School College Major (if listed) Sports (if playing)
East Squad
Carley Chapman, Arapahoe -- Central Christian College, mass media, volleyball/Basketball
Amy Edgerton, Cambridge -- Joseph's College of Beauty
Dana Volk, Cambridge -- UNK, radiology
Megan Baldonado, Elwood -- UNL, early childhood education
Morgan Baldonado, Elwood -- UNL
Taylor Wolfe, Medicine Valley -- college
Jacque Thomas, NP St. Pat's -- Kansas State, nutrition and exercise Science
Kristina Ruhlman, NP St. Pat's -- Briar Cliff, marketing, soccer/basketball
Jaime Coolidge, Rep. Valley -- UNK
Caitlin Schaffert, Rep. Valley -- Doane, athletic training/physical therapy, volleyball
Jenee Perkins, Southern Valley -- Northwestern College, volleyball
Amanda Weaver, Twin Valley -- Hastings, communications, volleyball/basketball
West Squad
Ashley Johnson, Chase County -- UNK or Hastings, elementary education, volleyball
Samantha Pinkal, Chase County -- Pittsburg State (Kan.), construction management
Alison Glidden, Dundy County -- UNK, health science, volleyball
Kayla Laird, Hayes Center -- Hastings, mass media, volleyball
Sara Richter, Hayes Center -- Univ. of Oklahoma, meteorology/mass communications
Katie Marquette, Sutherland -- Central CC, volleyball
Nicole Gier, Wallace -- UNK, communication disorders
Staci Alberts, Wauneta-Palisade -- UNK or Chadron State, elementary education
Ashley Kitt, Wauneta-Palisade -- four-year college, pre-dentistry
Melissa Long, Wauneta-Palisade -- UNK, business administration
Megan Ross, Wheatland -- NP-Mid-Plains CC, basketball
Nikki Sis, Wheatland -- UNL, biology or chemistry
East Leaders
Setting Assists:Jacque Thomas (5 sets played), 39, new record.
Digs: Amy Edgerton (2 sets), 12; Thomas, 12
Kills: Caitlin Schaffert (3 sets), 11; Edgerton, 10
Ace Serves: Schaffert, 3; Thomas, 3
Blocks: Morgan Baldonado (2 sets), 5; Edgerton, 3
West Leaders
Setting Assists: Nicole Gier (2 sets), 8
Digs: Katie Marquette (3 sets), 14; Samantha Pinkal (3 sets), 9; Alison Glidden (3 sets), 9; Kayla Laird (3 sets), 9; Staci Alberts (3 sets), 9 Melissa Long (2 sets), 9.
Kills: Glidden, 6; Pinkal, 5; Sara Richter (3 sets), 5; Alberts, 5.
Ace Serves: Alberts, 2
Blocks:Ashley Johnson (2 sets), 4; Glidden, 3.